I only have one more thing to say, then I'll force myself to drop out of this discussion. Yes, smoking is a choice, and dying may be a consequence of that choice. But do they have the right to inflict on us the pain of watching them wither away with cancer, to grieve them even more knowing they could have prevented their own death, and to deal with the aftermath, such as unpaid medical bills because no one would cover them with insurance because of the illnesses caused by their choice of habits? My uncle's health insurance was cancelled due to the fact that he had reached the limit of coverage every year for three years. Of course, he couldn't get coverage anywhere else, because he had lung cancer. My aunt was left saddled with over $1,000,000 in hospital and doctor bills, and five kids to raise on her own. She had to declare bankruptcy, and her kids suffered because she could never really make enough money to support them. She finally remarried, and believe it or not, her SECOND husband died of lung cancer also. Luckily, all of her kids were away from home, but without his income, she almost lost her home and everything she owned. She's dying as we speak of emphysema from inhaling 30 years of second hand smoke. I have asthma from inhaling it from my father and from working in smoke filled offices. Do smokers have the right to inflict this on us? It may be their choice, but they leave us with no choice many times. I'm done ranting. Touchy subject for me.

I see you asked this a couple years ago, but I'll answer what I can anyway. the size of any ceramic piece is limited by the size of the kiln to fire it. If you can fit only one piece at a time in the kiln, that increases production time and cost. The folk who make bathroom fixtures probably have HUGE kilns. I'm confused about what you're planning; you say, "This would not be a mold were you pour out the slip ... I am assuming slip can be used to to make a solid peice" I don't see why you would want a solid barbecue. And a slip-molded piece more than 1/2" thick is likely to crack like crazy when drying--and forget about firing it, it would probably explode. I don't think glazing greenware (even without paper) is a good idea; if the glaze vitrifies before all the moisture is gone, you'll get cracking or worse. If you don't need a glassy finish, you could use underglaze or colored slip to coat your greenware.

Both my main grill and my small smoker are on my deck but I'm very careful. all I have to do is look over the the next door neighbour's melted siding to remind myself. I lay one of those cheap hardware store mats down. They are black/charcoal coloured and generally come three sizes stapled together. Hope I'm describing them, ribbed, made from some kind of recycled poly pop bottles or something. So, on top of the mat I place concrete patio stones, those square or rectangular concrete blocks that are used for walkways or patios when you are first married and can't afford rock work. So, the mat protects from grease drips, the concrete is a bit of fire/heat protection for the deck boards. The smoker is out, away from the house and siding even tho we have Hardie board and even tho the smoker doesn't run hot (the grill does!) When I'm done the concrete and the mat go into a deck box and the grill or smoker get covered and put up against the railing on the far corner, out of the way. Usually the grill gets left set up all summer but I move the smoker because its used not as often and you want it out of the way because after you use it a while it smells good and smoky. Whenever I'm either cleaning the grill or using the smoker I bring the fire extinguisher up from the workshed as well. Never had to use it in 50 years but I still have it on hand.

The few blenders I have inspected closely have a "universal" motor which does work properly with a rheostat. The power to that motor is through the controls on the blender. But the controls on the blender may not work properly with the output from any external control device. Your post cannot be correct on the wattage. A rheostat is a variable resistor and simply wastes the unused electricity as heat- a crude way to do it. Using a variable transformer directly to the motor, bypassing the original controls, is a much better way. Running the motor at slower speeds risks overheating no matter how the speed control is accomplished.